How to Turn Your Used
Electronics Into Cash

Do you have an old but functioning PC collecting dust in your closet? An iPhone 6 that you no longer use? You know it’s time to let them go, but getting rid of your old electronics can be tough. Throwing them away is irresponsible , and giving them away can be hard to swallow even if it’s been years since you shelled out cash for them.

Fortunately, there are several websites and retail stores out there that are more than happy to pay you for these once-treasured possessions.

Best Buy

To get a quote, you just have to pick the product category, manufacturer, model, and its condition. For example, a 16GB unlocked iPhone 6 in good condition would have a trade-in valued of $104.

The only problem with Best Buy is that if you accept the offer they’re giving you, that money will be locked into a Best Buy gift card—you’ll have no other option other than buying more electronics. (But aren’t we always ready to buy more electronics?) If you’re trying to pay rent with this money, this option probably isn’t your best bet.

Best Buy’s trade-in program is convenient: you can just drop off your old tech at any local store that accepts trade-ins, or you can ship the item with a prepaid label. The turnaround time for payment is usually around 10 business days.

Nextworth (or Target)

To get a quote with Nextworth takes a bit more time than with Best Buy, since the questionnaire is more thorough. Here, a 16GB unlocked iPhone 6 has a trade-in value of $90.

Nextworth works closely with Target, so you can just drop off your electronics at a local store to trade them in for a gift card. Or you can ship it to Nextworth and ask for a check instead.

If you decide to ship the device, it might take up to 10 business days after you ship for you to receive your payment. But hey, at least with Nextworth you get actual cash for your stuff.

Gazelle (or Walmart)

Gazelle is very similar to Nextworth, except it works with Walmart and seems to pays more. Gazelle also offers different methods of payment: You can either get a PayPal deposit, check, or an Amazon gift card.

Like all other sites, Gazelle asks you to provide a quick description of your device in order to get an estimate. For a 16GB unlocked iPhone 6, Gazelle offers about $120.

You can either ship your electronics to Gazelle, or drop it off at an ecoATM kiosk for immediate cash. All kiosks are located at Walmarts. If you ship it, you’ll receive your payment within seven business days.

Amazon

Out of all the sites listed here, Amazon might be the best—it offers you more for your gadgets, pays you in Amazon gift cards, and has the fastest payment turnaround time.

To get a quote on your device, you have to fill out a similar questionnaire to Best Buy’s. You’ll have to select the category, model, and condition to get an estimate trade-in value. You can get up to $125 for a 16GB unlocked iPhone 6.

If you choose to accept the offer, you’ll get paid in an Amazon gift card. Amazon first has to ensure your item is as you described, which makes sense. If it all checks out, Amazon will give you the highest value.

The turn around time for payment is about two business days after the online retailer receives your device, which is by far the fastest. Amazon will cover shipping.

Craigslist or Facebook

If you don’t like any of the options above, you can always sell your devices the old-fashioned way: on Craigslist. Sometimes what companies offer you for your gadgets just isn’t enough, so you might want to try selling your devices on your own. On Craigslist you can set your own price and monitor how much people are offering. Hey, you never know—you might get a better deal.

You can also sell items on Facebook’s new “For Sale” groups, which works very similar to Craigslist. You just have to upload a picture of your device, set a price to it, add your contact information, and wait for people to inquire.

17 Comments

With Apple, sell directly to someone. Don’t use a site like Gazelle because you won’t get a fraction of what your device is worth. Apple electronics, as long as they’re in working condition, hold onto their value in a very surprising way and even a broken for parts item can be surprisingly valuable. I often sell my older Apple device to finance the purchase of the new one. I find buyers on Craigslist in the US, Kijiji in Canada, and eBay. Use Mac2Sell to determine the value of your device since your buyer will use it as well. I’ve never had any trouble finding a buyer willing to pay a good price for my used Apple device. I even had a buyer lined up to buy my mess of an iPhone 5C that was destroyed by the battery swelling (he wanted the screen and the case), but, to my surprise, Apple is replacing the phone out of warranty so now I can sell it for more (although I’ll probably keep it as a backup).

Came to say this. I’ve sold every generation of iPhone I’ve had on eBay and gotten way more than any of these sites offered. These sites will severely under cut your price if the phone isn’t in pristine condition. On eBay a cracked screen still got me over $300 for my old 4S. Even with shipping and the seller’s fee I come out ahead.

It’s not that surprising. Even an old Galaxy S6 still fetches decent change. Apple stuff is a little better, but honestly not that much. The value of all the Apples stuff I’ve sold is usually under 50% after a couple years.

I posted on Craigslist and got nothing but scammers. They want me to mail it out and offer pay for 100 dollars more than what I ask for. They will pay me via PayPal. Sounds too good to be true. So I went online and many ppl say once they receive your phone they will say it is broken (even if it is not) then request PayPal for a refund. I don’t trust eBay bc of that as well. For me, the best is always in person and in cash. Just get one of those money check markers for a few dollars to ensure you don’t take Counterfeit.

I think this is one thing that both the article and many commenters are glossing over: the amount of work someone needs to put in to sell their phones and electronics. I might sound a little arrogant or something, but I don’t have the time to list something on craigslist or Facebook, vet out potential scams, figure out my own shipping costs and payment, etc. All I want to do is take my phone somewhere, they give me a price, and I hand them my phone. Am I making less money that way? Yes, and I’m aware of that, but that’s also the price of convenience I suppose.

Hey Tommy, I don’t disagree with you. If you need the cash and don’t mind not getting the best price, then go to Gazelle, Amazon, or Nextworth. It makes sense you don’t get the best price because the retailer who buy your phone has to make a cut as well. Selling second hand stuff is never simple. I mean, there are work involve. Posting, meeting with possible buyer, haggle, and may not even get a deal. It does cost something. But if you have time and don’t mind waiting for a better deal, then I will sell it directly. At the end of the day what I see is how badly you need the money versus how much time/work you are willing to invest in.

Not even a hat tip to eBay? WTH? I sell all my old cell phones on eBay ... especially for DAMAGED, BROKEN or NON WORKING electronics, they are largest market / eyeball share and best return in every case unless you’re grossly incompetent as a seller. What Amazon or any of those other “trade it in” sites give you pales in comparison to what a refurbisher or rando will pay on eBay. Amazon may give you a preconditional valuation of 90 bux for that old eye phone, but after it’s shipped and reviewed, 9 times out of ten the value will be bumped down by a huge percentage. I’ve sold broken cell phones on eBay for cash which no “trade-it-in”-er will give you a penny for.

eBay is usually pretty good about protecting the seller unless the buyer actually has some proof that the item wasn’t as described. I’m always very explicit about what I have and take screen shots when necessary. On the other end, I bought a stero for my truck for about $20-30 off retail and the kid literally stuck it in a plastic grocery bag, put that in a flat rate box, and shipped it across the entire country. Face plate was hanging off, big scratch on the face despite being listed ‘like new.’ I took lots of pictures as soon as it came out of the box and messaged the seller immediately about my concerns so that there was documented evidence with timestamps. Dudebro was all like (and this isn’t even really a paraphrase), “bought that 6 months ago for $200 [current Best Buy retail was like $120]. you practically stole it.” Yeah, there was no capitalization. It ended up working fine so I didn’t push it any further. Anyway, this has gone on way too long but the point is that if you’re careful, eBay will usually take care of you whether you’re buying or selling.

Does anyone know of a way to sell a high-end gaming PC to a company or reseller for a decent price? I would like to take out the hassle of selling to a private party. My gaming time and habits have become so limited that having a high-end gaming PC isn’t necessary. The Ps4/Switch combo covers everything I need. It doesn’t seem like any re-sellers buy desktops though.

With Android devices, you might as well repurpose them unless you really need the money. I once paid $13 for a prepaid smartphone (A Samsung Galaxy Prevail or somesuch) that didn’t have a working speaker, and used it as a HTPC remote. I’ve got an old Galaxy S5 Active that makes a damn good VR headset with Riftcat VRidge. And of course any tablet is great for reading. (Though anything in the 10" range with a bright high-res display is fantastic for reading comics.) With the right apps and cables, tablets and phones can also be repurposed into large viewfinder screens for video and still cameras. And of course, if you’re into DIY electronics, there’s a billion things you could do with an Android device... It’s almost as good as having a spare computer in some cases.

There are certain trade offs: You want to sell it fast, avoid dealing with scammers, and don’t mind getting less money for your device? Do one of the options mentioned in the article. If you have time, and can filter out scammers, do eBay and Craigslist and LetGo. I buy stuff on eBay, but don’t sell there. I tried to sell my device - bidding got won by a scammer who offered me to pay via paypal outside of eBay. I sold my laptop on Craigslist instead. I’ve had good experience with selling my phones on Swappa - decent prices, and fairly low percentage of scammers.

i recommend you keep at least a single phone as a backup. im a repair tech that fixes phones and i know it sucks to be without a phone whether youre waiting for insurance to mail a new one or me to fix your phone. unless youre hurting for cash, hold onto that sucker for the oops that can be a lot less painless.